Editing Tibet Autonomous Region (section)

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Tibet}}

{| class="wikitable" align="right"
|+ Development of GDP<ref name="data1995-2019">Historical GDP of Provinces {{cite press release | url = https://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=E0103 | title = Home – Regional – Annual by Province | publisher=China NBS |date=31 January 2020 | access-date=31 January 2020 }}</ref>
|- bgcolor=eeeeee
| Year
| align="right" |GDP in<br />billions of yuan
|-
|1995
|align="right" | 5.61
|-
|2000
|align="right" | 11.78
|-
|2005
|align="right" | 24.88
|-
|2010
|align="right" | 50.75
|-
|2015
|align="right" | 102.64
|-
|2021
|align="right" | 208.18<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021年西藏GDP达2080.17亿元 同比增长6.7%_中国经济网——国家经济门户 |url=http://district.ce.cn/zg/202202/07/t20220207_37310694.shtml |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=district.ce.cn}}</ref>
|-
|2022
|align="right" |213<ref>"National Data". [[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.</ref>
|-
|2023
|align="right" |239.3<ref> Tibet's GDP up 9.5 percent in 2023, https://www.macaubusiness.com/tibets-gdp-up-9-5-percent-in-2023/, January 24, 2024.</ref>
|}

In general, [[Autonomous regions of China|China's minority regions]] have some of the highest per capita government spending [[Public good (economics)|public goods]] and services.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=366}} Providing public goods and services in these areas is part of a government effort to reduce regional inequalities, reduce the risk of separatism, and stimulate economic development.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=366}} Tibet has the highest amount of funding from the central government to the local government as of at least 2019.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=370–371}}As of at least 2019, Tibet has the highest total per capita government expenditure of any region in China, including the highest per capita government expenditure on [[Healthcare in China|health care]], the highest per capita government expenditure on education, and the second highest per capita government expenditure on [[Social security in China|social security]] and employment.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=367–369}}

The Tibetans traditionally depended upon agriculture for survival. Since the 1980s, however, other jobs such as taxi-driving and hotel retail work have become available in the wake of [[Chinese economic reform]]. By 2023, its gross domestic product (GDP) stood at nearly 239.3 billion yuan (about 33.6 billion U.S. dollars), adding that the growth rates of the region's major economic indicators, including per capita disposable income, fixed asset investment, and total retail sales of consumer goods, all ranked first in China. The added value of the service sector accounted for 54.1 percent and contributed a 57.6 percent share to economic growth. Investment in fixed assets also grew rapidly last year, with investment in infrastructure up by 34.8 percent and investment in areas related to people's livelihoods up by 31.8 percent.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/statistics/202401/23/content_WS65afbd1ac6d0868f4e8e36bf |title=Xizang's GDP up 9.5 percent in 2023 |date=January 23, 2024}}</ref>{{Non-primary source needed|date=January 2025}} The region's GDP grew by an annual average of 9.5 percent from 2012 to 2023, about 3 percentage points higher than the China's national average.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tibet's annual GDP growth reaches 9.5% over 10 years. |url=http://english.scio.gov.cn/pressroom/2022-10/08/content_78454461.htm |date=October 8, 2022}}</ref>{{Non-primary source needed|date=January 2025}}

By 2022, the GDP of the region surpassed 213 billion yuan (US$31.7 billion in nominal), while GDP per capita reached {{CNY|58,438}} ({{US$|8,688}} in nominal).<ref name="GDPdata" /> In 2022, Tibet's GDP per capita ranked 25th highest in China, as well as higher than any South Asian country except [[Maldives]].<ref name=":5">{{cite web| author = International Monetary Fund| url = https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April| title = World Economic Outlook Database, April 2023| publisher = [[International Monetary Fund]]}}</ref> In 2008, Chinese news media reported that the per capita [[disposable income]]s of urban and rural residents in Tibet averaged ({{CNY|12,482}} ({{US$|1,798}}) and {{CNY|3,176}} ({{US$|457}}) respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.nen.com.cn/guoneiguoji/280/3349280.shtml |title = Tibetans report income rises |publisher = news.nen.com.cn |access-date = 11 October 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721172024/http://news.nen.com.cn/guoneiguoji/280/3349280.shtml |archive-date = 21 July 2011 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

While traditional agriculture and animal husbandry continue to lead the area's economy, in 2005 the [[tertiary sector]] contributed more than half of its GDP growth, the first time it surpassed the area's primary industry.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/31/content_4121797.htm |title = Xinhua – Per capita GDP tops $1,000 in Tibet |agency = Xinhua News Agency |date = 31 January 2006 |access-date = 11 October 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609200828/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/31/content_4121797.htm |archive-date = 9 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/31/content_4121796.htm |title = Tibet posts fixed assets investment rise |agency = Xinhua News Agency |date = 31 January 2006 |access-date = 11 October 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609200853/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/31/content_4121796.htm |archive-date = 9 June 2011 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=January 2025}}

The collection of [[Cordyceps sinensis|caterpillar fungus]] (''Cordyceps sinensis'', known in Tibetan as ''Yartsa Gunbu'') in late spring / early summer is in many areas the most important source of cash for rural households. It contributes an average of 40% to rural cash income and 8.5% to the Tibet Autonomous Region's GDP.<ref>Winkler D. 2008 Yartsa gunbu (Cordyceps sinenis) and the fungal commodification of rural Tibet. Economic Botany 62.3. See also Hannue, ''Dialogues Tibetan Dialogues Han''</ref>

The re-opening of the [[Nathu La]] pass (on southern Tibet's border with India) should facilitate Sino-Indian border trade and boost Tibet's economy.<ref>{{cite news |author = Maseeh Rahman in New Delhi |url = https://www.theguardian.com/china/story/0,,1801322,00.html |title = China and India to trade across Himalayas  |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 June 2006 |access-date = 11 October 2011 |location = London}}</ref>

The [[China Western Development]] policy was adopted in 2000 by the central government to boost economic development in western China, including the Tibet Autonomous Region.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=133}} Because the central government permits Tibet to have a preferentially low corporate income tax rate, many corporations have registered in Tibet.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=146}}